Herrmann’s friend and frequent collaborator, British composer Laurie Johnson, MBE has died aged 96 on 16th January 2024.
The UCSB Library’s Special Research Collections will preserve, digitize, and make accessible the groundbreaking radio broadcasts of the CBS Symphony conducted by Bernard Herrmann in the 1930s and 1940s.
While Herrmann is known today as one of the preeminent film composers of the 20th century (Psycho, Citizen Kane, Taxi Driver), his early career was as a composer and symphonic conductor for radio, and these recordings are the primary collection of his innovative and progressive approach to the symphonic repertoire.
He championed the work of a then under-appreciated Charles Ives, British composers including Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Americans like Robert Russell Bennett and William Grant Still. These aluminum- and glass-based broadcast airchecks of 135 radio broadcasts were donated to UCSB by his estate after Herrmann’s death and document this important aspect of his career.
Thanks to Bob Kosovsky for the information
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York
Benny & Hitch is a brand new BBC radio drama – with live orchestral music – about the extraordinary and explosive relationship between director Alfred Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann.
With tensions growing between the two maverick artists and change afoot in the movie industry, Benny and Hitch’s collaboration and friendship comes to a catastrophic end at a recording session for the film Torn Curtain. But who is really responsible for the break-up? From beyond the grave, Benny and Hitch set out to determine which man has blood on their hands.
Music from Bernard Herrmann’s film scores performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra.
To be recorded 16 October 2022 for a future broadcast.
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York
Intrada has a Kickstarter campaign to record THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and ON DANGEROUS GROUND
The premiere of the one hour Suite of Bernard Herrmann’s Opera Wuthering Heights:
Beethoven’s Fifth and Wuthering Heights | Singapore Symphony Orchestra (sso.org.sg)
Fancy owning a bit of film music history? Bernard Herrmann’s 1952 Alvis is now up for auction. A left hand drive version made for the US market:
https://www.nought-sixty.com/all-vehicles/1952-alvis-ta21-dhc/
Bernard Herrmann wrote one of his most iconic works for Robert Wise’s 1951 film about visitors from outer space sent to Earth to share a warning for humanity. The Day the Earth Stood Still has rightfully earned its status as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. Herrmann’s music is equally unforgettable.
Neumation Music is proud to present Herrmann’s score for the first time in study score format. The score is beautifully engraved from Herrmann’s handwritten manuscript.
Foreword by Leonard Slatkin, Conductor Laureate of St. Louis Symphony!
116 pages. 9 x 12 inches. Paperbound. Printed in the USA
AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE, EXCEPT EUROPE (due to licensing restrictions)
https://neumation-music.com/products/the-day-the-earth-stood-still-in-full-score
Author STEVEN C. SMITH and composer & conductor WILLIAM STROMBERG discuss the lineage that connects John Williams to the great tradition of the Golden Age of Hollywood’s film music, especially to composers like Max Steiner and Bernard Herrmann. Podcast by Maurizio Caschetto for the Legacy of John Williams.
https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/06/10/steven-c-smith-william-stromberg-podcast/
Bernard Herrmann’s friend and occasional collaborator has died aged 106.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/may/12/norman-lloyd-obituary
The original manuscripts Bernard Herrmann gifted to his younger brother Dr. Louis Herrmann were recently donated to the Bernard Herrmann Archive at USC at Santa Barbara by Louis’ daughters.
The donation includes: THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (Blue-lined printed folio); MOBY DICK Cantata (working manuscript): A CHRISTMAS CAROL (working manuscript).
The Minnessota Opera’s 2011 production of Wuthering Heights will be streamed online in October 2020.
For more details see here:
https://mnopera.org/season/fall-season/wuthering-heights/
Herrmann’s friend, British-Dutch composer Gerard Schurmann has died aged 96 on 24th March 2020.
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York.
Herrmann’s friend and collaborator has died aged 77
Bernard Herrmann Legacy Interviews – An ongoing project by the Film Music Foundation
The second batch has arrived:Â Norma Herrmann and Norman Lloyd
The first batch included: Dorothy Herrmann, Steven Smith, Larry Cohen, Paul Hirsch and Richard Kaufman
more to come!
https://vimeo.com/album/5492991
The producer Nick Redman died on 17th Jan 2019 aged 63.
Nick produced countless Herrmann Fox Soundtrack CDs and DVDs/Blu-Rays for Twilight Time.
Quartet Records releases a brand new re-recording of Herrmann’s score:
From January 2019 the Music Sales Group will take over the score rentals from Themes & Variations.
For the US, the rentals will be handled by Schirmer
For the UK, the rentals will be handled by Music Sales UK
For Germany, the rentals will be handled by Sikorski
From the press release:
G. Schirmer, a member of the Music Sales Group of Companies, is proud to announce that the renowned SONY / ATV Harmony and Melody Collection of orchestral music for classic films is moving from Themes & Variations to the G. Schirmer Rental and Performance Library.
Themes & Variations was expanded in 1972 to meet the demand for professional symphonic performances and recordings of music primarily composed for motion pictures from 1933 to the present day. The works in its collection were faithfully restored from the original orchestral sketches and/or orchestrations.
Some of the composers whose works are represented in the collection are John Addison, Sir Malcolm Arnold, John Barry, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Elmer Bernstein, Bruce Broughton, Ernest Gold, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, James Horner, Maurice Jarre, Henry Mancini, Basil Poledouris, Nino Rota, David Rose, Miklos Rozsa, Max Steiner, and Victor Young.
Recent restorations include the latest Star Trek, Discovery by Jeff Russo and Interstellar by Hans Zimmer. Classic film scores include: the iconic To Kill a Mockingbird by Elmer Bernstein; Psycho, Vertigo, and Fahrenheit 451 by Bernard Herrmann; The Godfather and Romeo & Juliet by Nino Rota; Sleepy Hollow by Danny Elfman; Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Wojciech Kilar; Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris; and Goldfinger by John Barry.
After the transfer of materials is complete in January 2019, the collection’s titles will be available at musicsalesclassical.com/rental and Zinfonia.com.
http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/news/3892
Bernard Herrmann Legacy Interviews – An ongoing project by the Film Music Foundation
Currently online is the first batch with interviews: Dorothy Herrmann, Steven Smith, Larry Cohen, Paul Hirsch and Richard Kaufman!
more to come!
Herrmann’s friend Basil Ramsey died at the age of 89.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/24/basil-ramsey-obituary
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York.
August 15, 2018 at 7:00pm
Sounds of the Sea
Boston Landmarks Orchestra | Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Maurice Ravel Une Barque sur l’océan
Bernard Herrmann Moby Dick excerpts
Stella Sung Oceana (world premiere)
Claude Debussy La Mer
Bernard Herrmann’s Symphony
The Orchestra Now led by Leon Botstein, will be performing Herrmann’s “Psycho Suite” and his Symphony as well as Korngold’s Symphony in F sharp major at Carnegie Hall for one performance, on November 3.
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2017/11/3/0730/PM/The-Orchestra-Now/
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York.
quote:
Spitfire’s first dry scoring stage ensemble library, inspired by the electric genius of Bernard Herrmann. Renowned for his groundbreaking scores including Citizen Kane, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Psycho, Vertigo and Taxi Driver, his legacy continues to inspire the work of composers today. We’ve worked exclusively with Bernard Herrmann’s estate to curate and assemble a unique set of studio orchestra ensembles, informed directly by the composer’s legendary orchestration aesthetic. Recorded at Studio 1 Air Lyndhurst by Simon Rhodes (Avatar, Grand Budapest Hotel, Spectre, Harry Potter, There Will Be Blood), we’ve captured players performing as Herrmann would have had them – boisterous, lively and upfront, with patches featuring selected groups, unusual instrumental combis, chords, effects and much more. Fire-up this versatile Toolkit for lively and distinctive scoring.
http://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/bernard-herrmann-composer-toolkit/
We have been just made aware of this…thanks to Bob Kosovsky:
In October 2016 Editions Minerve published the first French language book on Bernard Herrmann written by Vincent Haegele:
Bernard Herrmann, un génie de la musique de film
To simplify the upcoming concert listings we have teamed up Movies in Concert to provide all film music relevant Herrmann concerts on our website.
Many thanks to Flip Jansen and Ingmar Kohl
The new concert listings:
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/news-concerts/
A Celebration of Music from the Golden Age of Cinema and Radio
Presented by Chamber Music on the Fox, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and Gail Borden Public Library
Includes a special guest lecture by Steven C. Smith and a chamber music concert of Herrmann’s music for Crime Classics!
http://gailborden.info/bernardherrmann
http://www.chambermusiconthefox.org/new-crime-classics-detailed.html
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York.
Stylotone in association with The Bernard Herrmann Estate, with a little help from director Quentin Tarantino, is proud to announce the World Premiere Release of ‘Twisted Nerve – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’. The release date is the the 6th May, 2016
Over 75 minutes of music across three formats (Vinyl, CD & Download – High-resolution WAV & 320kbps CBR MP3).
A 4 Track EP is released on 4th March, 2016
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/news-recordings/
In a rare clip from the BBC archive, in a preview for the BBC Proms, Bernard Herrmann discusses the works of Carl Ruggles with presenter John Amis on Music On Two: Summer Music Now in 1971. He also directs a performance of the composer’s Angels for six muted trumpets.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r4kkw
Originally shown on 18 July 1971
Also see:
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York.
We have updated the website with a new item to celebrate his birthday by longtime collaborator Bob Kosovsky
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/articles/a-letter-to-henry-cowell/
We have now added a discussion group on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HerrmannSociety/
Six films scored by Herrmann will screen during a four-day series
http://www.cleveland.com/moviebuff/index.ssf/2014/04/mr_movie_music_cleveland_celeb.html
Gotham Radio Theatre re-creates two episodes of the radio series CBS Columbia Workshop live on stage, with live music, sound effects and more to underscore the action. The Columbia Workshop – which aired on the CBS radio network from 1936 – 1942 – was the perfect platform for experimenting with the new medium and helped to develop the use of sound effects and vocal impersonations. Bernard Herrmann, who composed the scores for Psycho and Citizen Kane, wrote and arranged music for several of these productions, and his work will be on display in this production.
FSM has published their old print magazine (1990-2005) now for free:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/fsmonline/backissues_print.cfm
The San Francisco Symphony performs the score of Hitchcock’s Vertigo along with the film on November 1. One hour prior to the presentation of Vertigo on November 1, Steven Smith will give an informal talk from the Davies Symphony Hall stage to shed light on the working relationship of Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann.
http://www.sfsymphony.org/About-Us/Press-Room/Press-Releases/Film-Series-2013-14.aspx
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/events/2013-vertigo-film-with-the-san-francisco-symphony/
UK viewers only.
A documentary presented by Neil Brand featuring Steiner, Korngold, Rozsa, Barry, Zimmer, Williams and Herrmann. Norma Herrmann also appears.
A special show live from BFI, Southbank in London, to launch Radio 3′s Sound of Cinema season.
His guests include Norma Herrmann, widow of the great film score composer Bernard Herrmann whose celebrated partnership with Alfred Hitchcock gave rise to some of the most disconcerting scores in cinema history; silent film pianist and composer Neil Brand; and the Tippett Quartet playing live and showcasing some of the best music to come out of the movie
The 21st Century has caught up with us!
Join us here:
https://www.facebook.com/herrmannsociety
Broadcaster and music critic John Amis died on 1st August at the age of 91.
Amis was a friend of Herrmann’s and interviewed the composer several times for the BBC.
He also appeared as singer on Herrmann’s 1967 recording of Moby Dick and the 1975 recording of The Fantasticks.
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2013/08/genial-john-has-died-and-with-him-a-gentler-era.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10219112/John-Amis.html
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/aug/02/john-amis
http://www.taitmemorialtrust.org/Home
More on John Amis:
The RTE Orchestra in Dublin will perform the world premiere of Vertigo live with an orchestra.
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/events/2013-vertigo-live/
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York.
We have updated the website with two new items to celebrate his birthday.
In August 1975 Bernard Herrmann gave one of his last interviews to scholar Royal S. Brown,
An Interview with Bernard Herrmann
Herrmann held his final public performance on April 21st 1974, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.
A concert commemorating the 150th anniversary of the death of Lord Byron.
Bernard Herrmann’s friend the special visual effects master Ray Harryhausen, has died aged 92.
The WDR Radio orchestra presents a concert of Herrmann’s music with Katia Labèque & The Bernard Herrmann-Projekt
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/events/2014-katia-labeque-the-bernard-herrmann-project/
Experience thrillers from the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, accompanied live by the Symphony and featuring the US premiere of Vertigo with orchestra, Psycho, and more.
Wed Oct 30 8pm: Â Psycho complete with Orchestra
Thu Oct 31 7:30pm: The Lodger: Silent Film with Organ
Fri Nov 1 8pm: US Premiere: Vertigo complete with Orchestra
Sat Nov 2 8pm Hitchcock! Greatest Hits (with North by Northwest)
The Norwegian Radio Orchestra gives an all Herrmann concert in February 2013:
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/events/2013-film-music-bernard-herrmann/
Film Score Rundowns has added a chord profile on Prince of Players
http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/
http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/herrmann/chordprofile9.pdf
This trailer of Sacha Gervasi’s new film Hitchcock shows footage of Paul Schackman playing Bernard Herrmann:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9-deKp7yK0&feature=share
The first (of four) volumes of the new edition of Randall D. Larson’s book has been published. Bernard Herrmann is included in the chapter on Television Music in the first book, and his music for fantasy and science fiction films will be covered in depth in the forthcoming second book. This is a major rewrite and update of the original 1984 edition.
http://www.creaturefeatures.com/products/books/musique-fantastique/
An article by Vincent Dowd for the BBC World Service:
Nitin Sawhney was interviewed about his new score for Hitchcock’s The Lodger and Bernard Herrmann
http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/interviews/nitin-sawhney-21189
Bernard Herrmann was born on 29th June 1911 in New York.
And we have a new article on the site to celebrate it:
Bernard Herrmann’s friend the author Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) has passed away on 5th June 2012.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9315001/Ray-Bradbury.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/06/ray-bradbury?newsfeed=true
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-ray-bradbury-20120607,0,5622415.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/ray-bradbury-sci-fi-author-of-fahrenheit-451-martian-chronicles-dies-at-91/2012/06/06/gJQAy9HiIV_story.html
The Warwick Arts Centre in Warwick, UK is showing the 1999 moving image installation by Douglas Gordon at the Mead Gallery from 1 May 2012 to 23 June 2012 alongside his new work Zidane, which follows the famous footballer. The event is called Maestros.
In Feature Film the camera hones in on conductor James Conlon as he leads the Paris Opera Orchestra conducting all of Herrmann’s music for Vertigo,
http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/visual-arts/maestros
http://www.artangel.org.uk//projects/1999/feature_film/about_the_project/feature_film
Ludovic Bource won an the Oscar for the best original score.
A scene in the film uses the music from Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo (Scene d’Amour)
The score has also won the following awards previously:
BAFTA Award for Best Film Music
European Film Award for Best Composer
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
The Filmus-L archive is now available from the Bernard Herrmann Society.
The archives start in 1993 and end in 2010. If you were into film music in the nineties it was the most important place to be.
Also includes “Filmus-L: A Brief History” by H. Stephen Wright.
Varese Sarabande has released a 14 CD boxed set containing all his 20th Century Fox scores to celebrate the centenary:
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/events/2011-bernard-herrmann-at-20th-century-fox/
To celebrate Twilight Time’s Blu Ray of Mysterious Island is show at the Egyptian Theatre in LA on 13th November:
http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/mysterious-island-0
The British comedian talks about scary film soundtracks:
http://www.list.co.uk/article/38273-bill-baileys-guide-to-scary-film-soundtracks/
Bernard Herrmann’s longtime collaborator and friend the radio pioneer Norman Corwin has died at the age of 101.
Obituaries:
The recent Moby Dick recording by Chandos was reviewed by the Guardian:
Bernard Herrmann, a film composer born 100 years ago, is the star of the film music Prom says Ivan Hewett:
BBC Proms 2011: The man who made Psycho even scarier
Their Herrmann season starts 21 Oct 2011 and lasts for two weeks:
The Big Apple celebrates Herrmann’s 100th birthday with an intimate evening by Jim Lochner:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/fsmonline/story.cfm?maID=3196&issueID=77
(Subscribers only)
A piece on Herrmann’s concert music in the Gramophone’s blog:
My Weekend With Bernie – Getting beyond Herrmann’s famed film scores by Albert Imperato:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/blog/new-york-insider/my-weekend-with-bernie
Britain’s Oldest Classical Music Magazine Musical Opinion features in the current issue an article by Edward Johnson:
Bernard Herrmann – A Centenary Survey
CBSnews.com’s Bernard Herrmann: A master of movie music
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7371717n
Conductor John Wilson on Bernard Herrmann:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/74cad662-0eb6-4044-908e-04680457957a#p00hwd2w
The Watershed events in Bristol, UK:
Video interviews and talks with Norma Herrmann, Laurie Johnson, Neil Brand and Adrian Utley:
http://www.watershed.co.uk/herrmann/
Rarely seen, silent Alfred Hitchcock films are to have new orchestral scores composed for them as part of screenings for the London 2012 Festival:
BBC: Composers to create Alfred Hitchcock silent film scores
Today is the Centenary Anniversary of Bernard Herrmann’s birth — 29 June 1911 – 2011.
We have given the web site a face lift + some new content:
“A Biographical Sketch” by Edward Johnson, with foreword by Miklos Rozsa
“A Celebration of His Life and Music” radio documentary by Bruce Crawford and Bob Coate
More to come.
To mark the 100th anniversary of Herrmann’s birth George Kaplan (UK) has been doing a marathon blog, working his way through Herrmann’s film scores one by one:
Several articles have appeared over the weekend mentioning the Herrmann Centenary.
www.cbsnews.com/2300-207_162-10008202.html
articles.boston.com/2011-06-26/ae/29706440_1_film-composers-history-of-movie-music-film-music
2MBS-FM, Australia is devoting a special 2 hour program to Herrmann on 26 June called “Bernard Herrmann Centenary”.
The program will go to air at 2-4PM (Sydney time) and can be heard online via their website at www.2mbs.com.
Herrmann’s longtime friend Fred Steiner died on 23rd June 2011 aged 88.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-fred-steiner-20110625,0,7265403.story
filmmusicreporter.com/2011/06/24/fred-steiner-passes-away-at-88
www.thestate.com/2011/06/25/1874012/fred-steiner-composer-who-created.html
www.variety.com/article/VR1118039133?refCatId=14
A musical analysis of the seminal sci-fi score by Ross Care
is published by FSM Online magazine (subscribers only):
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/fsmonline/story.cfm?maID=3154&issueID=76
Article by Benjamin Ivry.
Steven Smith be signing copies of A HEART AT FIRE’S CENTER: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF BERNARD HERRMANN
at the bookstore Every Picture Tells a Story in Santa Monica, CA on Friday, 24th June at 6:30,
This will be followed by a showing of CITIZEN KANE/THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS across the street at the Aero Theater on Friday, 24th June at 7:30.
He will also be introducing VERTIGO at the Aero on Sunday, 26th June at 7:30.
Join WQXR’s Movies on the Radio for a celebration of this illustrious composer best-known for his thrilling and chilling film scores for Hitchcock. Guests include Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conductor John Mauceri, Bernard Herrmann’s daughter and writer Dorothy Herrmann, composer Rob Schwimmer, and Josh Waletzky, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann. Special appearance by Academy Award-winning film composer Michael Giacchino (Super 8, UP, The Incredibles). Hosted by WQXR’s David Garland and Elliott Forrest
UPDATE:
The WQXR events have been put online:
http://www.wqxr.org/programs/movies/2011/jun/04/
http://www.wqxr.org/programs/movies/2011/jun/11/
http://www.wqxr.org/programs/movies/2011/jun/18/
http://www.wqxr.org/programs/movies/2011/jun/25/
The German radio station WDR is devoting a special program to Herrmann on June 26 titled:
“Let’s not talk about Movies”
http://www.wdr.de/programmvorschau/object4Broadcast.jsp?broadcastId=3692209
Watershed’s On Dangerous Ground is an extensive overview of his finest work: from his first film to his last. There’s also performances, workshops, interviews and events:
Film composer David Arnold talks about Psycho:
The Art of Time Ensemble presents The War of the Worlds, a celebration of the music Bernard Herrmann to mark the centenary of his birth. Also on the program is the world premiere of an instrumental suite ‘Herrmannthology’ newly composed by Dan Parr based on 20 of Herrmann’s film scores.
http://www.artoftimeensemble.com/performances_2010WarWorlds.html